Grade schoolers perform ‘Chrysanthemum’ on Jan. 25
Room 10 at McCurdy Elementary School became the main stage at La Scala or the Metropolitan Opera as students in Amy Chesnut’s second grade class worked on their opera, Chrysanthemum.
The purpose of Operation Opera, is “pulling the parts of an opera out and examining them,” said Debbie Stinson, aka Dr. Opera. Stinson, an opera singer, is with Young Audiences of St. Louis. She will spend five days at the school this month sharing her skills with three different McCurdy classes.
Excitement bubbled among the students as Stinson arrived to get the boys and girls ready to work. She showed them the cast list and the students giggled briefly over who received what roles. After the children made more room on the floor by moving their desks back, Stinson began to separate them into their roles, calling up characters for the first scene.
Chrysanthemum, the main character in the story, is a little girl whose classmates tease on the first day of school because of her name. One girl in particular, Victoria, is very snobby toward Chrysanthemum, at one point, rudely informing her, “I’m named for my grandmother, you’re named for a flower.”
Stinson explained terms like “blocking” to the students, and she told them they must sing their lines, short or long, instead of saying them. As they wove through the various scenes, some children had trouble keeping pace with the story while others whispered their lines instead of singing them.
Samantha Pini, who plays Chrysanthemum, shed her cold feet not long after she started her scenes. By the end of the play she sang well, even Chesnut, who sat at the back of the room for most of the hour, could hear Pini.
“Remembering where I am in the script was hard,” she said. She said she might want to try a school play later, when she is a high school student.
Classmate Chris Nigh, who also played one of Chrysanthemum’s classmates, enjoyed himself. “Nap time was my favorite, because we were just laying there acting like we were sleeping. The singing, that was the hardest part for me.”
Stinson said working on an opera in this manner emphasizes important skills. “They learn how to follow scripts, taking directions and learning their lines,” she said. “It teaches them the discipline of following directions and it gets them more comfortable with reading. They are so eager, and they want them to do a good job.”
Katie Ray and Kathy Stevenson’s classes also are working on operas. All three classes will give final performances on Wednesday, January 25 at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., at the school, which is located at 975 Lindsay Lane, in Florissant. Call (314) 953-4650.
